Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 23, 2015)
OPINION 6A T HE D AILY A STORIAN Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager Good outcome for Astoria’s library THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 The giant rats that save lives By NICHOLAS KRISTOF New York Times News Service M $/$1-($QJROD ² ,¶P ZDONLQJ LQ D PLQH¿HOG here in rural Angola, tailing a monster rat. This is a Gambian pouched rat, a breed almost 3 feet from nose to tail, the kind of rat that gives cats nightmares. Yet this rat is a genius as well as a giant, for it has learned how to detect land mines by scent — and it’s doing its best to save hu- mans like me from blowing up. Nicholas Kristof/The New York Times A Gambain pouched rat — dubbed “HeroRats” by their handlers, searches a minefield near Malanje, Angola, March 13. Land mine de- tection can be a dreadfully slow and inefficient task, and the rats, trained to detect the scent of explosives, are a radical innovation. These rodent mine detectors have been dubbed HeroRats, and when \RX¶UH LQ D PLQH¿HOG ZLWK RQH WKDW seems about right. You’re very respectful, and you 7KH\ FDQ VWLOO ZHLJK XS WR In contrast, a HeroRat can screen just hope this HeroRat 2.5 pounds, which is a lot of 100 samples in 20 minutes — ambling doesn’t have a stuffed nose. UDWZKHQ\RX¶UHIDFHWRIDFH DORQJDURZRISHWULGLVKHVVQLI¿QJDW ,¶P KHUH EHFDXVH ¿YH I think I found my rat: a each, and pausing when one is posi- years ago, my kids gave scraggly codger named Bo- tive for tuberculosis. The rats are also me a HeroRat for a Fa- ban who is just the right age much more accurate than a human he Astoria City Council’s Monday decision to build ther’s Day present through to have been trained when with a microscope. In the clinics where HeroRats are now doing the detection GlobalGiving.org. I didn’t my kids sponsored the rat. a new library on Heritage Square, as part of a mixed- actually take physical pos- %DUW:HHWMHQVD%HOJLDQ WKHLUGLDJQRVHVFRQ¿UPHGE\KXPDQV use building, makes sense. In fact, it’s an idea that was na- VHVVLRQ IRUWXQDWHO\ EXW product designer, started the LQ ODEV WKH QXPEHU RI WXEHUFXORVLV HeroRat program after puz- SDWLHQWV LGHQWL¿HG KDV ULVHQ SHU- scent around 15 years ago when Astorians gathered at the the gift helped pay to train Nicholas the rat to sniff out explo- zling about how to improve cent — meaning that more patients are Kristof Columbia River Maritime Museum for a visioning session sives. And now I’ve come mine detection. As a boy, diagnosed and treated, preventing the :HHWMHQV KDG NHSW UDWV DV disease’s spread. about the future of what was then called the Safeway block. WR PLQH¿HOGV RI UXUDO $Q- Apopo pampers the rats, which get gola to hunt for my rat. pets, and he came across an article about The stand-out favorite which emerged from that process was There are 39 HeroRats here, and the use of gerbils for tasks involving better health care than most Ango- lans. The rats work only a couple of they underscore the way the aid world scent detection. a mixed-use building. KRXUVDGD\WKH\JHWKRWLQPLGGD\ is increasingly embracing innovative :HHWMHQV WKHQ FRQVXOWHG URGHQW In a nutshell, the concept is a There is power in building a and they retire at age 6 approaches to old challenges. scholars, who suggested public space — a library — on the new library space rather than living when they become less I’ve seen land-mine detection in Gambian pouched rats, The JURXQGÀRRUZLWKRWKHUUHWDLORI- with the limiting factors of the cur- Afghanistan and elsewhere, and it’s in part because they com- dependable. ¿FHVRQWKHVHFRQGÀRRUDQGZRUN- rent space as well as the adjoining GUHDGIXOO\VORZDQGLQHI¿FLHQW7\SL- pensate for very weak GHEDWHG ZKDW WR rats are do ³:H with them after retire- cally, men in body armor walk in pre- eyes with a superb sense IRUFHKRXVLQJRQÀRRUVDERYH :DOGRUI+RWHO ment,” Adamo recalls. paid in This is not a new concept. The most curious aspect of the cise rows holding metal detectors in of smell. They are called “It would be very unfair IURQW RI WKHP :KHQHYHU WKH\ FRPH “pouched” not because Downtown Astoria — largely built council’s deliberations on the li- bananas, to just, er,” — he paused across metal, they stop and painstak- they are marsupials but be- in 1923 — has retail on the ground brary’s future is the role of Larry ingly brush away the soil until they see FDXVHWKH\¿OOWKHLUFKHHNV embarrassed, peanuts, slightly, ÀRRUDQGKRXVLQJDERYH Taylor, the defeated candidate for what it is. looking for a euphemism with nuts and other good- Usually it’s an empty AK-47 car- ies, and then bury them un- avocados — “get rid of them.” For the city of Astoria, mixed mayor. Derrick DePledge reported So the HeroRats use on Heritage Square has two 7XHVGD\ WKDW ³:KLOH WKH OLEUDU\ tridge or a nail. Sometimes there is derground — relying upon spend their golden years PHWDOHYHU\IHZLQFKHV(DFKWLPHWKH scent to recover their cach- and GLVWLQFW EHQH¿WV :LWK KRXVLQJ debate has been about preserva- nibbling on avocados and whole process stops until the soil can es later. Another advantage RI¿FHVUHWDLODQGDSXEOLFXVHWKH tion, there is a political ingredient. be brushed away. apples. hanging out with their of Gambian pouched rats building would bring density and Larry Taylor, the Intel technolo- KDQGOHUV :KHQ WKH WLPH In contrast, the rats scamper along is that they have an eight- new vitality to downtown. The oth- gy manager who lost to LaMear on leashes. They respond only to the year life span that offers comes, the handlers lay them to rest in a rodent cemetery, with scent of explosives, so scrap metal a lengthy return on the nine months of er positive is that mixed use can in November, has been involved several people present to pay respects. doesn’t slow them down. training needed to detect land mines. tap more than one capital invest- in both the campaign to save the To me, HeroRats are an example $W WKLV PLQH¿HOG ZKLFK LV IXOO RI 6R :HHWMHQV VWDUWHG DQ DLG JURXS ment and revenue stream. Libraries :DOGRUIDQGWKHPRUHUHFHQWDSSHDO metal objects, a human with a metal Apopo, that trains the rats in Tanzania of an explosion of innovation taking are ripe for philanthropic gifts and on behalf of the existing library.” detector can clear only about 20 square DQGWKHQGHSOR\VWKHPWRPLQH¿HOGVLQ place in the philanthropic world — grants. Private developers will Defeated candidates deal with their meters a day. A rat can clear 20 times various countries. Apopo is also now and seeing large gains in productivity as much. branching off into using HeroRats to as a result. ¿QG WKH RWKHU VSDFHV DQ DWWUDFWLYH disappointment in different ways. Apopo is also an example of aid “Rats are also more reliable,” said detect tuberculosis — a disease of pov- investment. There is public invest- Heritage Square would be a groups connecting donations to par- $OIUHGR$GDPRD¿HOGVXSHUYLVRUKHUH erty that kills 1.5 million people a year ment available for urban housing. good outcome for the city’s library. ticular tasks in a way that donors can ³:LWK KXPDQV FRQFHQWUDWLRQ ZDQHV around the world. $JURXQGÀRRUUHWDLOHUZLOOSURYLGH A mixed-use development would after a while, but rats just sniff away.” A huge challenge with tuberculosis is easily relate to. Through Apopo.org, a revenue stream. be excellent. The rats are paid in bananas, peanuts, diagnosis. It takes a trained health work- you can “adopt” a HeroRat for $84 avocados and apples, and they don’t er with a microscope all day to examine a year. Take it from me, this makes need body armor — partly because about 25 samples of sputum to deter- D WHUUL¿F 0RWKHU¶V 'D\ RU )DWKHU¶V they’re too light to set off land mines. mine if they are positive for tuberculosis. 'D\SUHVHQW T Mixed-use building on Heritage STuare Farries tZo bene¿ts LNG rears its scary head T Do we want to be a West Coast colony for a New York company? he triumph of money over democracy is a theme of the PRGHUQDJH:HDUHFORVHWRVHHLQJ whether that will be the outcome of a decision to turn parts of Clatsop &RXQW\ LQWR D OLTXH¿HG QDWXUDO JDV export terminal and pipeline. As outlined by our news story :HGQHVGD\ WKH )HGHUDO (QHUJ\ Regulatory Commission is com- pleting a draft environmental im- pact statement for the Skipanon Peninsula terminal and 87-mile pipeline that would connect it with the regional LNG distribution net- ZRUN$¿QDO(,6ZLOOIROORZFRU- recting any technical details and in- corporating public comments about the draft, with document comple- tion expected early in 2016. )(5&KDVVXEVWDQWLDOSRZHULQWKLV process, granted by Congress, in the- ory to facilitate national interests by getting energy products to and from where they are needed. Carrying out “coordinated national energy poli- cy” envisions not allowing local or regional feelings to get in the way. 1HYHUWKHOHVV RQ D VFLHQWL¿F EDVLV )(5&ZLOOEHQRPRUHELDVHGWKDQDQ\ other large federal agency and may conclude that building massive LNG facilities in the direct path of periodic massive tsunamis is not a great idea. On a more immediate basis, the Columbia River bar remains dan- gerous despite a robust Coast Guard presence, late autumn and winter wind storms fairly often reach hur- ricane strength, and the Columbia estuary is jammed with small com- PHUFLDO DQG UHFUHDWLRQDO ¿VKLQJ boats for weeks at a time. This is the migratory bottleneck for migrating salmon, steelhead, smelt, shad and other species. A large new industrial site in the midst of all this warrants strict examination. :KHWKHU )(5& LV JHQXLQHO\ able to objectively weigh all these considerations is an open question. Like all such bodies, it both draws personnel from the industry it reg- ulates and cycles employees into those industries. They are not in the business of saying “no.” Oregon agencies, as well as fed- eral ones such as the U.S. Army &RUSV RI (QJLQHHUV DQG 12$$ Fisheries, must be zealous in ensur- LQJWKDWHQHUJ\SUR¿WVDQGK\SRWKHW- ical national energy interests don’t overwhelm other legitimate issues. These factors must be part of the decision to forcibly install LNG as a new neighbor for the people and wildlife that have long committed to live here. So, too, must the possi- bility that the presence of LNG here would serve as the foothold for oth- er heavy industry along what is now a remote rural shoreline. Are Clatsop County residents united in opposing Oregon LNG’s plans? No. But recent county com- mission elections have evidenced D SUHIHUHQFH IRU RI¿FHKROGHUV ZKR have made clear their doubts about the project. Nor are all residents op- posed to new heavy industry here. Under circumstances in which new QHLJKERUV GHPRQVWUDWH D ¿UP FRP- mitment to preserving the values that draw and keep residents here, most new industries would be welcomed. However, Oregon LNG, a sub- sidiary of Leucadia National Corp., a New York-based holding compa- ny, has long since abandoned any pretense of community outreach or inclusion. A corporation that does not return local phone calls cannot be expected to become a respectful and accommodating new neighbor. :HGRQRWZDQWWREHD1HZ<RUN FRPSDQ\¶V:HVW&RDVWFRORQ\ Hollywood stars trump Harvard brains DQFHVWRUVRI$IÀHFN¶VZKRZDUUDQWHG inclusion in the episode. Regardless, it exposed Gates, a trust- all me an idealist, but I’d ed authority on the African-American like to think that the halls experience, to accusations that he’d sold out. It diminished him. of higher education are less vul- But wasn’t that inevitable from the nerable to the siren calls of fame moment he hitched scholarship to show and fortune than other byways business? ³:HFRQÀDWHZKDWD3%6VSHFLDOLV of American life are. AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke, File with academic work,” Carol I’d like to believe in a Anderson, who teaches at Dr. Mehmet Oz, vice chairman and bold dividing line between (PRU\8QLYHUVLW\WROG-DPLO professor of surgery, Columbia academic virtues and ce- Smith in The New Republic. University College of Physicians ³:HKDYHWRXQGHUVWDQGWKDW and Surgeons, testifies on Capitol lebrity values, between in- so much of what we see there Hill in Washington in June. tellectual and commercial is packaged for a nonaca- concerns. demic audience that wants coffee extract, raspberry ketones and But Henry Louis Gates the picture of really deep, other faddish weight-loss supplements. Jr., a renowned Harvard intellectual discussion but is Admonishing him, Sen. Claire Mc- professor, and Mehmet Oz, not quite ready for what that &DVNLOO QRWHG WKDW ³WKH VFLHQWL¿F FRP- Frank a surgeon on the faculty at munity is almost monolithic” in its rejec- means.” Bruni Columbia, get in my way. :KDWGRHVWKHDXGLHQFH tion of “products you called ‘miracles.’” I link the two because Also remember that the British of The Dr. Oz Show want? they’re both in the news, not because To judge by what Oz gives them, it’s Medical Journal published a study of they’re equally in thrall to the televi- winnowed thighs, amulets against can- scores of his show’s medical recom- sion camera or identically unabashed cer and breathless promises of “magic” mendations, saying more than half GLGQ¶WKDYHVRXQGVFLHQWL¿FEDFNLQJ peddlers of something other than fact. and “revolutionary” breakthroughs. And bear in mind that the Sony 2]LVE\IDUWKHPRUHFRPSURPLVHG¿J- Oz has morphed not just willingly XUH %XW *DWHV WRR H[HPSOL¿HV ZKDW but exuberantly into a carnival barker. emails included one that showed Oz to be eager, as Vox happens when a lecturer is bathed in He’s a one- reported, “to bright lights and gets to hang with Ben man morality Dr. Oz has use his platform $IÀHFNZKRZLOOVRRQEHRQVFUHHQLQ play about the on the show to Batman’s billowing cape. temptations morphed … help expand So- $IÀHFNZDVDJXHVWODVW2FWREHURQ of mammon Q\¶V ¿WQHVV DQG the PBS documentary series “Finding and the se- exuberantly into a health-tracking Your Roots,” in which Gates takes lu- duction of carnival barker. devices mar- minaries — Sting, Stephen King, An- applause, a ket.” Sony is gela Bassett — on journeys into their Faustian par- one of the producers of Dr. Oz. SDVWV$IÀHFNVLJQHGXSIRUWKHWULS able with a stethoscope. But well beyond Oz, there’s an un- But when he learned that he had a Many Americans probably had no slave-owning ancestor, he asked that LGHD WKDW KH UHPDLQHG DI¿OLDWHG ZLWK settling corruption of academia by ce- the detail be excised, according to Columbia — he’s vice chairman of its lebrity culture. Many professors do double duty as communications between Gates and surgery department — until they read his friend Michael Lynton, the chief ex- last week about an email sent to the television pundits, even though sound HFXWLYH RI 6RQ\ (QWHUWDLQPHQW 7KHLU university by 10 physicians around the bites, which are inherently unsubtle, exchange was part of the hacked Sony country. They accused him of “promot- run counter to what scholarship exalts. HPDLOVUHFHQWO\VKDUHGE\:LNL/HDNV LQJTXDFNWUHDWPHQWV´IRU³SHUVRQDO¿- And educational institutions choose ³:H¶YHQHYHUKDGDQ\RQHHYHUWU\ nancial gain” and urged Columbia to speakers largely — and sometimes solely — for their star power. The Uni- to censor or edit what we found,” Gates sever its ties with him. wrote to Lynton, going on to fret over He’s expected to defend himself on versity of Houston spent $155,000 to the “integrity” of the series. “He’s a television later this week, and his pub- schedule Matthew McConaughey for PHJDVWDU:KDWGRZHGR"´ licity machine has gone into overdrive, its commencement next month. Maybe he’s more learned than we Gates left the detail out. seeking to discredit the physicians and realize. Or maybe erudition counts for After the disclosure of this late frame the issue as one of free speech. last week, he insisted, unpersuasive- But don’t forget that he was called less than buzz, even in those enclaves O\WKDWWKHFXWUHÀHFWHGQRWKLQJPRUH before a U.S. Senate panel last year to that are supposed to be about deep, du- than the need to make room for other explain his on-air gushing about green rable things. By FRANK BRUNI New York Times News Service C
